Improvement in feed-water heaters



H. S. MAXIM.

Feed Water-Heater.

Patented Feb. 23,1875.

Rim-160,215.

THE GRAPHIC CO.PNOTO.-LITN.39&4I PARK PLAGE ILY.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFIGE.

HIRAM s. MAXIM, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN FEED-WATER HEATERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 160,215, dated February 23, 1875; application filed November 13, 1874.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, HIRAM S. MAXIM, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Feed-Water Heaters, of which the following is a specification:

This inventionis an improvement uponthe device patented by me May 5, 1574, No. 150,478; and upon corresponding parts of the drawing I have placed the same letters of reference as in said patent, and hereby make reference to the same for a general description of the operation of the heater.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a vertical section of the heater Ecomplete, and Fig. 2 is a sectional plan at the line 00 a.

The deflector r at the upper end of the pipe f, through which the exhaust steam passes, is made with an open space all around it in place of the months in aforesaid patent.

Difficulty has arisen in making the float 70 so perfectly tight that steam or small quantities of water will not enter, and either interfere with the floating power or cause the float to collapse, from a vacuum being formed when the apparatus cools. To prevent this, Imake use of a small pipe, k, that is coiled, so as to obtain the necessary spring; and one end of this tube opens through the bottom of the float, and the other end passes through the bottom of the vessel to, so that atmosphere is freely admitted within the float k, and any "apors will blow ofl', or water run 011', from such float.

With heavy pressures of water there is difficulty in obtaining a float, 7c, sufficiently powerful to close the valve 0, at the end of the watersupply pipe I), by the direct action of such float. I therefore introduce the compound levers Z 0, which have their fulcrums upon the sprinkler-plate h; and the lever Z is acted upon by the plate m, and this in turn acts upon the lever 0, that moves the valve-stem and valve 0, to close the same against the pressure of water when the apparatus is sufficiently filled, or to open the valve as the water is drawn off by the pump.

The sprinkler-plate h is preferable to a deflector, as the water drips from the same through the steam.

I employ the vessel 9 around the pipe 9, through which the uncondensed steam escapes, to catch any watery particles and return them, by the pipe t, to the vessel 0.. This vessel 9 may be more or less distant from the apparatus. 7

To prevent the escape of vapor into the room containing the feed-water heater, I extend the pipe n upwardly within the tube '12, at the end of which is a return-bend, valve-seat, and valve, y. This valve opens inwardly when the water draws down to a lower level than the division 4, thereby preventing the liquid in the trap being drawn out by the pump.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination, with the float in a feedwater heater, of a tubular spring, opening at one end within the float, and at the other end outside the heater, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, in a feed-water heater, of a compound lever, l and 0, having the fulcrums upon the sprinkler-plate h, and acting between the float and the valve that admits water, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with the oil-trap and air-tube w, of the tube 1;, neck, and valve 3 substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 11th day of November, A. D. 1874.

HIRAM S. MAXIM.

Witnesses:

Gno. T. PINCKNEY, UHAs. E. SMITH. 

